Lower Elementary
Lower Elementary Program
The children who have participated in a Montessori primary may be offered admission to our Montessori elementary program. These classes offer individualized and small group instruction based on the curriculum developed by Dr. Montessori. Building on the work completed at the primary level, dynamic manipulatives are used to materialize abstract principles. The rich curriculum includes mathematics, language, reading, grammar, writing, spelling, geography, history, technology, foreign language, and science. Standardized tests are done yearly as one means of determining the level of success achieved by our students.
(MSM does not offer childcare, but we share our facility with the Chesterbrook UMC Preschool and After Care Center, which provides after care for a portion of our student population, including elementary aged children. Their website is www.ChesterbrookPreschool.org.)
Lower Elementary News
For the past several weeks, we have been discussing countries of Africa. Mostly we covered political history, anthropological findings, interesting landforms (such as Victoria Falls and the Kalahari Desert), as well as local flora and fauna. We noted that the continent of Africa has many, many different ethnic groups and languages, sometimes within the borders of a single country. The students have been fascinated by the European influences on the continent.
Our trip to the museum helped the students gain a better understanding of the history and art of the con- tinent in general and of some specific groups. For example, in class, we told the story of the Golden Stool from the Ashanti people of Ghana. At the museum, we saw several examples of carved wooden stools, which would have been used only by kings. Also, the students were very interested in the masks and the symbolism represented on them.
We also visited the basket exhibit which was composed of items woven by Americans of African descent who are actively working to keep the weaving traditions alive as well as baskets made in Africa. The students were especially taken by examples of baskets that came from Africa and incorporated materials that were made in the West. We saw baskets that used telephone wire, strips of plastic bags and soda can tops. The students thought the artists’ use of these materials was very creative and, hopefully, will begin to look at objects in their own world in a different way.